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www.landscapeirrigation.com Landscape and Irrigation March 2016 9 INDUSTRY NEWS continued on pg 32 Stihl announces outgoing president Fred Whyte to remain chairman of the board Stihl Inc. announced that its outgoing president, Fred Whyte, continues to serve the Virginia Beach, Va.-based company as the sole director and chairman of the board of directors following his retirement in December 2015. Whyte, who served in the position of director and chairman of the board of Stihl Inc., prior to his retirement, is continuing in this capacity and acts in an advisory role to incoming president Bjoern Fischer and his executive management team, providing strategic counsel. Whyte has worked with Stihl for more than 44 years, including the past 23 years as president of Stihl Inc. During his tenure, Stihl enjoyed record growth and became the number one selling brand of gasoline-powered handheld outdoor power equipment in America. "Bjoern was my recommendation to succeed me as the person to lead our company in the future, and the Stihl family agreed," said Whyte. "He and the Stihl Inc. management team will be steering the ship, and my role will be to help them read the map." "Mr. Whyte has a wealth of knowledge and experience from the more than four decades he has worked with the Stihl group and in the industry," said Dr. Nikolas Stihl, chairman of the Stihl Group's advisory and supervisory boards and grandson of the company's founder, Andreas Stihl. "We appreciate his willingness to continue to provide guidance and mentorship as we begin the next chapter for Stihl." JCB produces 100,000th compact excavator JCB celebrated the production of its 100,000th compact excavator with the promise of more innovative machines to come. The building of this 100,000th machine comes as JCB continues to grow its market share in this popular North American equipment category. JCB's first compact excavator — an 801 model weighing in at 3,307 lb./1.5 ton — rolled off the production line in 1989, a year when the global manufacturer produced just over 450 machines. By 1992, JCB's compact excavator range had expanded to four models with 1,000 units produced annually. The company recently celebrated the production of its 100,000th compact excavator — a 24,250-lb./10-ton 100C-1. It is one of 22 models in today's JCB compact excavator range. The compact excavator sector is one of the most competitive areas of the global construction equipment market, and is worth an estimated $5.85 billion annually. More than 20 major manufacturers compete for this valuable business, and with almost 200,000 sold worldwide each year, it is the single largest sector of the annual 700,000- unit construction equipment market. "JCB has an innovative, powerful and robust range of compact excavators which keep growing in popularity," said JCB CEO Graeme Macdonald. "From being a challenger in the market 25 years ago, JCB is now firmly established as an industry leader, setting trends for design innovation and manufacturing excellence. "To have produced 100,000 compact excavators is something for the whole JCB team to celebrate, and with more additions to the range due later this year, we look forward to more growth in this important sector of the market." JCB has recently capitalized on the growing opportunity presented by the compact excavator sector by investing $22 million in manufacturing technology and new product development. Over the past two years, this investment has led to the launch of brand new models, including the 67C-1, 85Z-1, 86C-1 and 100C-1 models, which compete in the 13,000 to 22,000 lb./six, eight and 10 metric ton weight categories. Scotts Miracle-Gro announces joint venture and other Strategic initiatives The Scotts Miracle-Gro Company (NYSE:SMG), a leading marketer of branded consumer lawn and garden products, announced a series of initiatives to maximize the value of its non-core assets in order to concentrate its focus on emerging categories of the lawn and garden industry in its core U.S. business. "We are convinced that significant opportunities remain in our U.S. business in emerging areas like organic and natural products, live goods, nutrients for hydroponic gardening, the development of water positive landscapes and bringing internet-enabled technology to the garden," said Jim Hagedorn, chairman and chief executive officer. "In an effort called 'Project Focus,' we are committing to invest the human and financial resources necessary to win in each of these areas. "This commitment requires choices, which means we must re-evaluate the assets in our portfolio that we no longer see as core. The actions we are taking or contemplating are all designed to enhance the value of each asset we own while also giving us maximum optionality going forward." As a first step in executing its strategy, the company entered a definitive agreement to contribute Scotts LawnService in a joint venture with TruGreen Holdings Inc., an entity controlled by private equity firm Clayton, Dubilier & Rice (CD&R). At the closing of the transaction, ScottsMiracle-Gro will own an equity stake of approximately 30 percent in the combined business, with a fund managed by CD&R holding the controlling interest. The combination of the two businesses would create a lawn service business